Unexpected Happenings at Hogwarts
by allystranglikespancakes
Summary: James, Remus and Sirius meet three girls who change their routines in a number of unexpected ways..I guess?
1. Chapter 1

James Potter stared blankly at the O.W.L test that was currently staring him down. Ruffling his shaggy, jet black hair with his fingers, he sighed. He had more important things on his mind then this stupid O.W.L. When was he ever going to use herbology in his life anyway? He glanced up, an idea materializing in his mind. Catching Sirius' eye from two rows over, he winked. Sirius grinned back, but not wishing to look suspicious, returned to his test. James strode confidently to the front of the Great Hall where the frumpy professor who was proctoring the exam was seated, looking as though she were about to fall asleep.She glanced up at him over her glasses and asked "What is it?" He smiled in the same way as he often did to the girls who hung onto his every word and explained why he needed to be excused. Her eyes widened as he whispered into her ear. She looked alarmed and embarassed, but that didn't stop her from asking him to repeat himself over again, to assure that she had heard correctly. He spoke louder, in a tone that he was sure even those with bad hearing would be able to take note of. "It seems I'm getting a rash on my…" She intercepted him there and said "Oh. Very well, Mr.Potter. But don't expect this favor again." He walked out of the Great Hall, relieved that he would not be made to finish the exam, and also struggling to keep a straight face. "She must think I have an STD," he concluded, hysterical. And now he had an entire afternoon off to show for it.

As he left the Great Hall through the enormous double doors, he came across a short girl among two of her friends, relaxing under a huge oak tree that had moss crawling up its side like a gnarled old sweater. As he took a closer look he noticed that the short girl was holding her nose and whispering something or other. They looked to be fifth years just like him, so he decided to approach them.

"Hello, ladies," he declared in a cocky tone. The short one waved offhandedly and continued whispering what James heard as "watermelon." The friend to her right side chose that moment to explain. "She feels like she has to sneeze." He laughed "Oh?" The trio nodded solemnly, as if this was a very serious matter. After a closer look, he noticed that the short one was not, in fact, height deprived, but that she was merely slouching and that the three were all of the same height. The "short one" had dark, flippy hair, many freckles and brown eyes. The one to her right was equipped with lighter brown hair, brown eyes and an inclination to stumble over her words. The friend to the left seemed the most goofy had dark chin length hair with a reddish tint and also had brown eyes. "I'm James. James Potter." He offered, praying that they would offer their names in return so that he did not have to continue referring to them as "the short one" or whatever. The one to the left of "the short one" did so just then. " I'm Catsy Corsini," she said, pointing to herself. "The one sneezing is Ally Strang, and next to her is Rosie DeRienzo," she continued, pointing to each as she went along. "Aha," he said, smiling, "It's a pleasure to meet the three of you." Ally smiled, before sneezing explosively. "CRAP," she bellowed, drawing attention from everyone around them. Catsy and Rosie giggled. Their friend was often ridiculous and obnoxious without realizing it. James pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket, and offered it to her. She thanked him, and rubbed her nose with it, embarassed slightly. "The watermelon thing is a lie, guys," she told her friends, drawing more giggles. Just then Remus and Sirius plodded toward them. After more introductions, a congratulations from Sirius on James' performance in the Great Hall and a scolding from Remus on the same event James and his friends extricated themselves from the conversation with a few warm goodbyes. As they walked away, Ally couldn't help but smile at her friends. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" she asked Rosie and Catsy turned toward her. "Goats?" Catsy suggested "Transfiguration?" Rosie offered, mispronouncing the last syllable. Ally laughed, "Never mind."

That night, Ally sat up in bed as the hour grew later and later. The floor immediately surrounding her was littered with notes she had begun to study and then grown bored of and her comforter, which she had kicked off of her bed in her frustrated, insomniatic mood. She knew she'd regret not sleeping tomorrow, but couldn't shake the impulse to tell someone what she'd been thinking of earlier in the day. Although she couldn't readily tell Catsy at the moment, since she was in her Gryffindor dormitory where she belonged, she could easily tell Rosie who slept in the bed next to hers. By some miracle five years ago, they'd both ended up in Ravenclaw. Glancing over at Rosie, who was mumbling something about "whores" in her sleep, Ally summoned a cup of coffee as a peace offering and crept surreptitiously toward Rosie's bed.


	2. Chapter 2

Rosie's POV

"Rosie," I heard this being whispered into my ear in a somewhat urgent tone, hardly registering that someone or other wanted my attention. As my name was repeated a second time, I felt a gentle tapping on my shoulder. It wasn't until I smelled the coffee, however, that I came to a partially conscious decision to wake up. I groaned and opened one eye to see who was bothering me. Ally was perched next to me on the bed, holding coffee out toward me in an apologetic way.

"Ally, I already hugged you goodnight," I murmured sleepily as she laughed.

"I wouldn't do that. Wake you up for a hug? Psh."

I gave her a look at that, the one she had told me was intimidating and seemed to say: "Is that so?"

"Once," she reminded me, "Just once." She rolled her eyes although I could tell she was more amused than annoyed that I'd brought it up.

"Alright," I said, sipping my coffee. It was made just as I liked it. Ally wasn't stupid. Even I wouldn't bargain with me if I were lacking some form of caffeine. It's not that cooperate at those times. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" I inquired, still drowsy.

"Well," she mumbled, seeming unclear about where to begin, "I don't know where to begin."

I simply kept my attention on her. I'm not just sympathetic to being unsure about how to word things, I'm the queen of it. That being said, I gave her a moment to figure out her speech dilemma and made space for her beside me. Even if she had woken me up in the wee hours of the morning, I didn't wish discomfort on her. I'm just like that, I guess. I care about people.

"You remember earlier, when James left the oak tree, how I asked you guys what you were thinking?"

I nodded, remembering exactly. "You mean Ruffles?"

She stared at me, incredulous. "Catsy nicknamed him already?"

The way she said it made it sound as if she were worried one of us might steal him from her or something. I'm sure she knows this isn't true. She just never really caught on to our nickname craze, I guess.

"We could tell you were attracted to him," I stated simply, defending myself and Catsy.

She didn't seem annoyed in the least. Quite the contrary , she seemed relieved not to have to spell it out for me, and laid her head on my shoulder.

"So which of his friends are you after, then?" she asked jokingly.

"The quiet one. Remus, isn't it?" I answered, dead serious. She glanced over at me, checking my expression without moving her head. " is Catsy going for Sirius then?"

"Actually."

I could feel her smiling into my shoulder. "So now that we've established that, do you want to know what I was thinking?" she asked.

"Oh yeah," I remarked cleverly, almost surprised. I'd thought she was just going to tell me that she liked him. Apparently, Ally had other things on her mind.

"Do you remember how we met? In that muggle flea market at the fortune teller booth?" she prodded.

"Mhm. Catsy and I collided with you as you rushed out of the booth. You were in a daze and must've dropped your Hogwarts letter out of your pocket. School was starting soon so we figured you'd need it and came after you. "

"And" she said, nodding and gesturing for emphasis.

"And we became friends?" I added hopefully.

"And I told you both what the fortune teller had predicted," she corrected, looking to me for some sign of remembrance.

"Sorry. I don't remember. Please elaborate?"

"The lady said I would discover something great, hidden beneath the blue. I remembered that because as James, Remus and Sirius were walking away, they were discussing their plans to go swimming in the lake this morning before sunrise."

I stared at her, wandering how she could have heard all of that while she was sneezing neurotically the entire time they wear near us. I guess trying to understand was futile anyway; we had to retrieve Catsy and get to the lake.

"Here's what I want to know," I giggled "what are you going to discover underwater with Ruffles?"

I'd caught her off guard with that one, and she snorted "Rosie!"


	3. Chapter 3

(James POV)

As Remus and I were changing into our bathing suits, Sirius was pacing the dormitory that we shared and refusing to shut up about Ally's friend, Catsy.

"Listen mate, stop worrying! All the girls love you," I coaxed. Anything to get him to shut up.

He glared at me. "Easy for you to say," he spat "that short girl you like won't be there."

"Shut up," I retorted, masking just how true that was. "Her name is Ally." Sirius made a "whatever" gesture.

Remus walked in between us. "Maybe Catsy will invite her friends. After all, Sirius, when you invited her, your wording suggested an open invitation." He reasoned wisely.

James gulped, never having thought in those terms. He flattened his hair and ruffled it up again in his nervousness. "You don't really think so?"

"Look now! Jamesey is scared," Sirius taunted, making the "r" in scared sound like a "w."

James rolled his eyes. "Let's just go."

--

(Catsy's POV)

As I pulled my bathing suit on and then looked thoughtfully at the multicolored paper clip bracelet on my wrist, knowing that the matching earrings were in my ears, I debated whether or not to invite Rosie and Ally down to the lake with me and the guys. I finally decided that I would, since I knew that Ally and Rosie would enjoy the company of Ruffles and Puppy.

I glanced at myself in the mirror quickly before raising the bracelet to my mouth. We each had a matching set of paper clip earrings and bracelets for communication. We'd bewitched them a few years back and they'd served us 

pretty well since then. The earrings let you hear what was being said to you and the bracelet served as the mouthpiece.

"Hey guys," I hissed "Meet me at the lake in five minutes." I didn't wait for a response and crept out of the dormitory.

--

(Ally's POV)

I gawked at Rosie as we sat in our dormitory, having heard Catsy's message at the same time. We'd both put on our bathing suits already and had just been about to tell Catsy to meet us at the lake.

"Did you hear that? She already knew!" I laughed.

Without further ado, we made our way out of the castle and ran into Catsy near the oak tree form earlier that afternoon.

Rosie, appearing to be curious in regards to Catsy's source of information, asked "How did you find out?"

Catsy's reply was simple: "Sirius."

--

(James POV)

Down at the lake, Sirius paced some more, worried that Catsy wouldn't show up after all.

"Do you think she's always this late?" Sirius finally asked.

"She is. All the time." remarked a girl's voice behind him.

He spun around, shocked to see that Catsy, Rosie and Ally stood there, all in bathing suits. Rosie had been the speaker.

James stared down at himself, blushing, and pulled off his sweatshirt. He'd figured he would be cold after getting out of the lake, but he wanted to show off his hard-earned muscles if Ally was here. Remus, James saw, was trying to gauge 

Rosie's reaction to him, as well. "At least we're subtle," James thought, "Sirius is staring at Catsy like she's a bottle of fire whisky he wants to gulp right down."

--

(Rosie's POV)

As the guy's eyes wandered around as if they were cars on a Sunday drive, I began to feel self conscious. James looked like he couldn't figure out what he was supposed to be doing. Thankfully, Catsy broke the ice at that moment.

"Last one in is a rotten house elf!" she yelled.

She sprinted away immediately and Sirius was hot on her tail. Myself, I thought I would risk being a rotten house elf and I noticed that Remus held back as well. Ally looked hesitant until Sirius waved James into the water. When she saw that Ruffles was going, she smiled and said "Come on, Rosie."

Remus ended up being the rotten house elf as he jumped into the lake's freezing depths right after us.

I could feel the numbing effect of the water on my toes nearly at once and did a lap around the area where everyone had landed. Ally was doggy paddling in place, Catsy was under water and the guys were pretending to be oblivious to the cold. Catsy came up then, splashing all of us.

Ally laughed, startled, and went to chase her for revenge. I'm usually not bothered much by the cold water, but there was something about it this time that gave it an eerie and singular feel.

My toe brushed something sharp. I looked down and a scream erupted from my mouth. Ally looked over at me in concern. "Rosie?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay, I know it took a while for that. The truth is, I'm having trouble with ideas. If you guys could review and give me something to work with, that'd be awesome. Thanks.**

-Remus' POV-

As Rosie began to flee to shore, I hurried toward where she had been standing to see what I could do to remedy the problem, whatever it might have been. Cautiously sticking my face under the water, I spotted a creature that had the appearance of a monkey with fish scales and a hollow in the top of its head. I pulled my sopping wet head out of the water, shivering slightly, and rushed towards the shore for my wand.

"James!" I shouted, "Toss me my wand! It's a kappa!"

He looked bewildered. "What's that?"

I glared at him, exasperated. "Are you kidding? It's a Japanese water demon that preys on human blood! Did you even read 'Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them?'"

"Human blood?!" Ally squealed, running blindly toward shore. She collided with James and he held her safely against his chest as he answered flatly: "No."

I rolled my eyes. I only wanted my friends to be safe, most notably Rosie, and James was sitting here behaving like an idiot. I highly doubted Ally was impressed, but it was hard to tell with her face buried in James' chest.

Catsy looked immensely delighted after a moment. "Human blood? Like a vampire?" she asked

Rather than answering that, I pulled Sirius' wand from his hand.

"Hey!" he shouted "Give me that!"

I thought back to what Newt Scamander had said about kappas. My two options as far as I remembered them were tossing a cucumber with each of our names carved into it or fooling it into bowing. The idea was that, by bowing, the water would come out of the hollow in the top of its head, thus depriving it of its strength. This option seemed more feasible, so after a moment's thought, I decided to simply stupefy him. After doing so, I tossed Sirius his wand and looked toward shore where Rosie sat grinning triumphantly at my success.

I looked to the left and noticed that Ally's body was still pressed to James' but that now she didn't look fearful. Instead they made unusual faces at one another and broke into laughter every few minutes. Suddenly curious as to what Sirius and Catsy were up to, I glanced in their direction. The two of them were locked in a fierce competition of playful wrestling, leaving Rosie and I in the perfect position top be alone together.

I looked towards her next. The sun was just beginning to rise above the horizon, and its faint glow caught the blonde strands of her hair, turning it a pale, iridescent gold. I couldn't help but be struck at that moment by how beautiful she was and how much I liked her. (Shut up, Rosie. Regardless of any argument from you, you are very beautiful.)

She smiled breaking me out of my reverie. "Thanks for that," she said, jabbing her thumb towards the lake.

I nodded happily. "It's of no consequence, really. Don't worry about it."

I sat next to her and she laid her head on my shoulders. She had no clue how pleasing that felt to me. What wasn't pleasing, however, was the fact that I knew that this could never last due to my "furry little problem" as James calls it.

-Sirius' POV-

I argued amiably with Catsy as we walked slowly back to shore, astonished that she'd beat me in our mini wrestling match. She was everything I'd looked for in a girl for a long time and she seemed to like me back. One can hardly fault me for having a little trouble believing it. Best of all, James and Remus seemed more than happy with their new girls. The only thing that seemed even remotely wrong was that Peter was probably going to be pissed.

I shrugged that off as Catsy insisted that my fly was undone. I laughed, somewhat alarmed and looked down. I looked back up at her, confused.

"No, it's not."

She giggled. "Gotcha."

"Wow, I can't believe I fell for that," I thought aloud.

"Works every time," she teased.

I jumped at her, grinning madly. "You're gonna get it!"

-Ally's POV-

Sticking my tongue out at James, I rawred jokingly. We both dissolved into giggles, becoming almost helpless with laughter.

The water in which we stood was unseasonably cold and I couldn't repress my shivering even in favor of my two favorite things: laughter and cuddling.

James seemed to notice this at precisely that moment. "A bit chilly, eh?"

I nodded and though I hated to inconvenience him, I was incredibly glad when he suggested that we go to shore where I could wear his sweatshirt.

As we began walking, he reached for my hand and took it in his. I felt a blush warm my chilly cheeks. This guy knew how to make a girl happy.

He leaned down and whispered in my ear: "You look beautiful when you do that."

I bit my tongue thoughtfully. "Thank you, but I disagree."

He looked at me, seemingly confused. "It's almost breakfast time. Would you like to come eat with me so that I can unravel the mystery that is you?"

I almost laughed. "Certainly," I agreed.

"I have a quick errand to run. Can I meet you there?" he asked as his face showed a strange expression.

I nodded. Anything he suggested was fine by me.

Catsy's POV-

I couldn't help but laugh uproariously as Sirius pounced at me, his black hair swinging in front of his eyes. Within seconds he had me pinned to the ground.

"Instead of forcing you into submission, I'm going to ask you something," Sirius declared.

I simply replied: "Continue."

"Would you be my girlfriend?"

I smiled a crooked teasing smile. "I'll think about it."

Sensing my humor, he helped me up, kissed my forehead and said: "Let's go get breakfast."

-Rosie's POV-

After a while of laying on his shoulder, which might I add, is exceedingly comfortable, I heard him mutter my name.

"Hmm?" I replied

"You really are awfully pretty you know."

I groaned. "You have no clue what you're saying."

"Oh, but I do. I would also like to say that I like you quite a lot. Would you mind terribly being my girlfriend?"

"Ye-yes!!" I finally sputtered, stumbling over the one syllable word.

He smiled, relieved, and held me in his arms. "Thank you. Now let's go eat."

-James' POV-

As I sat with Ally at breakfast, my stomach was doing backflips. As far as I knew, Ally had no clue that she was about to get asked out via owl.

I had written her a note and given it to my owl to deliver, and now I could hardly wait for the post to arrive. I crossed my fingers.


End file.
